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The Dragon/Video Games: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]] in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
* In ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Force Unleashed]]'', it is revealed that Darth Vader has been Palpatine's [[Dragon with an Agenda]] much earlier than the "[[Luke, I Am Your Father|I am Your Father]]" Scene in [[The Empire Strikes Back|Episode V]]. [[The Dragon|Vader]] tries pulling off a similar speech to the young Starkiller, but proves unable to sway him.
** In the "Dark Side" DLC available for some versions of the game, Starkiller actually becomes a Dragon with an Agenda appealing to Luke Skywalker.
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* In ''Killzone 2'', Mael Radec is this to Scolar Visari.
* In the ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' series, Sagat was portrayed as M. Bison's right-hand man within Shadaloo. However, the later ''Street Fighter Alpha'' prequels established that Sagat wasn't really that close to Bison and only joined since Bison promised him he would fight Ryu again in a rematch. In ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]] 3'', Balrog serves as M. Bison's main henchman, with Juni and Juli also fulfilling this role.
* In [[Disgaea: Hour of Darkness]], the boss of the second chapter is Flonne, a little angel girl that can only heal the other enemies. However, she has a very strong enemy protecting her... and it's actually a dragon.
* Aribeth is the Dragon for Maugrim, who is himself the Dragon for Morag in the original ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' campaign; and in Hordes of the Underdark Mephistopheles serves as the Dragon for the Valsharess (or maybe it is the other way around).
* In [[League of Legends]] Talon is General Du Couteau's dragon, and though labeled a mercenary by the community, takes orders only from him.
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** Also in the ''Fatal Fury'' series: Lawrence Blood is Wolfgang Krauser's Dragon, and Grant is Kain R. Heinlein's.
* [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' games almost always plays [[The Dragon]] for [[Dracula]] himself, and is occasionally referred to as Dracula's most loyal servant.
** In the ''Castlevania'' games where Death was not the second-to-last boss, ''[[Castlevania: Rondo of Blood|Rondo of Blood]]'' and ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|Symphony Of The Night]]'' has Shaft, and ''[[Castlevania Bloodlines|Bloodlines]]'' has Drolta Tzuentes.
** Dmtrii Blinov and Dario Bossi served as [[Co-Dragons]] to Celia Fortner for ''[[Castlevania: Chronicles of Sorrow|Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow]]'', {{spoiler|though Dmitrii becomes [[The Starscream]].}}
* ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'''s Golbez, who is very much a Darth Vader figure, turns out to be Dragon to {{spoiler|Zemus.}}
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* Jenova of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' becomes one of these to Sephiroth, despite probably being more important to the plot (and a great deal creepier). Her fully reconstructed form Jenova Absolute is the last boss you battle before confronting Sephiroth himself.
** In certain interpretations, Sephiroth was actually [[The Dragon]] for Jenova - with his body dead, it would have been Jenova's malevolence using him as the ultimate soldier. However, this theory has been disproven by [[Word of God]]. Sephiroth's appearances before his original body is found in the crater are in fact Sephiroth controlling and using Jenova's body to take his own form.
** This paradigm becomes convoluted when we realize Sephiroth would not have become corrupted without Jenova's influence. Although he had the stronger will, it was a will twisted by an alien desire. And, that [[Word of God]] came ''years'' later, from a different God, and plenty of fans call [[Canon
**** It's more like Sephiroth became Jenova; by the time of the game and Advent Children, there's no difference between Sephiroth and Jenova.
***** In an odd role reversal, it's actually Sephiroth that is defeated first in Advent Children. The last thing to do is to remove all remaining Jenova Cells and in Dirge of Cerberus, the entire conflict against Sephiroth is actually called the Jenova Wars. Odd, assuming that Sephiroth was the [[Big Bad]] and Jenova was just [[The Dragon]].
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** Vorselon, Cassiopeia and Lawrence to Doctor Nefarious in ''[[Ratchet and Clank Future A Crack In Time|A Crack in Time]]''.
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'''s Metal Sonic, in all his myriad versions, names and incarnations, has often wound up playing this role to Robotnik.
** Except in ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' where he [[Took a Level
** ''[[Sonic and The Black Knight]]'' features a literal dragon to be slain before the final boss. Which itself is actually just a dragon to the ''real'' [[Big Bad]], {{spoiler|Merlina}}.
* Axel Gear, the [[Evil Counterpart]] from the ''[[Rocket Knight Adventures]]'' series, serves as the Dragon in all three games. Despite the fact that each of them involves a different invading empire, of a different ''species'' to boot, Axle Gear is the Dragon to each successive [[Evil Overlord]]. It seems that repeatedly losing to the hero has not damaged his resume.
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** The fourth, ''Shadows of Darkness'', has made [[The Dragon]] [[The Starscream]] to [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Dark Master]], in their quest to unleash an [[Eldritch Abomination]].
** Ironically enough, the villain of the fifth game, ''Dragon Fire'', is actually trying to [[Sealed Evil in a Can|summon a dragon]]. In the meantime, he has to settle for The Assassin. His identity is a mystery for much of the game, and ultimately turns out to be a throwback to the series' first installment.
* The ''[[
* Mr. Big posed as the [[Big Bad]] in the first ''[[Art of Fighting]]'', but took his rightful place in the second game when Geese Howard came back to Southtown. In ''Art of Fighting 3'', Sinclair was Wyler's dragon.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' is ''filled'' with these, mostly serving as pawns for Ganon/Ganondorf. Most of the time, the plots end up [[Hijacked by Ganon]].
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** Chancellor Cole to Malladus in ''[[Spirit Tracks]]'', and Byrne to Cole.
** Demon Lord Ghirahim in ''[[Skyward Sword]]'' is this to {{spoiler|Demise}}.
** Yuga from ''A Link Between Worlds'' is this to {{spoiler|Princess Hilda, though he is revealed to actually be using her and ends up betraying her in a bid to seize power for himself.}}
* ''[[Touhou Project|Imperishable Night]]'' particularly has this subverted with a touch in gameplay. Kaguya Houraisan is a powerful Lunarian and has a powerful [[Battle Butler]] Eirin Yagokoro. Canon-wise, Kaguya is definitely more powerful (she is immortal after all), but gameplay-wise Eirin is more difficult to defeat than her boss. Thus Eirin is somehow Kaguya's Dragon and this leads to a [[Stupid Statement Dance Mix]]: '''"HELP ME, EIRIIIIN!!!!"'''
** Kaguya being more powerful than Eirin is actually a debated topic. Some argue Eirin, others argue Kaguya. The reasoning being that Eirin herself may also be immortal (she implies this, while Yuyuko implies otherwise, but neither Eirin nor ZUN have ever outright confirmed or denied it). Regardless, Eirin is definitely Kaguya's Dragon.
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* [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|''Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'']] has Dusknoir, a figurative Dragon, and {{spoiler|[[Disc One Final Boss|Primal Dialga,]] a literal one.}}
** Then in [[Pokémon Black and White]], you have Ghetsis serving as N's Dragon. {{spoiler|Until it's revealed that Ghetsis is really the [[Big Bad]] and is using N as ''his'' Dragon.}} Ghetsis and N also both use a literal Dragon type Pokemon as the strongest member of their respective teams during their final battles against the player, with N's dragon ({{spoiler|Reshiram in ''White'' and Zekrom in ''Black''}}) filling an important story role and essentially serving as his main weapon/companion/form of tranport.
** Most of the villains in the series have Dragons. In 3rd Gen, Maxie has Tabitha and Archie has Shelly and Matt, and in 4th Gen, Cyrus has Saturn. 5th Gen has already been mentioned, and Gen 6 had Xerosic to Lysandre. And in the Orre spinoffs, there was Nascour to {{spoiler|Es Cade/Evice}} and {{spoiler|Ardos and Eldes}} to Greevil, as well as Wakin to Gonzap. Arguably even 2nd Gen has the Rocket Executive Archer as [[Big Bad]] and the female Rocket Executive Ariana as his Dragon--and one or both of them could be considered the Dragon for 1st Gen's Giovanni.
* In the ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' series, Shiva usually takes the role of [[The Dragon]], most notably in the final showdown as Mr. X's bodyguard in the second game, and again in Streets of Rage III {{spoiler|in one of the Bad Endings of the game}}.
** Shiva also fits the brawn role. But only because Mr. X is one of the few people smart enough [[Just Shoot Him|to use a gun]].
* In ''[[
** And in ''[[
* Kammy Koopa, Lord Crump and Nastasia in the ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' games. Though in the case of Lord Crump, [[Big Bad|Grodus]] doesn't seem to value him, even {{spoiler|pulling a [[Uriah Gambit]] with him}} at one point. The closest thing that game has to a dragon is [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] leader Beldam, who may be thought of as a Dragon by Grodus but definitely is by [[Sealed Evil in a Can|the Shadow Queen]].
* Another ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' example would be Kamek, a figurative Dragon to [[Big Bad|Bowser]], and [[Overlord, Jr.|Bowser Jr. (Bowser's youngest son)]], a literal Dragon.
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** In Lair of the Shadow Broker, {{spoiler|Tela Vasir}} is [[The Dragon]] to the Shadow Broker.
* Walton Simons serves as Dragon to {{spoiler|Bob Page}} in ''[[Deus Ex]]''.
* If you end up against [[The British Empire]] in the VIP:R mod [[Victoria:
* Played with in ''[[Crackdown]]'': {{spoiler|You, the player, are the Dragon to the game's ''real'' [[Big Bad]], the Director of the Agency. You face down other Dragons of rival bosses}}.
** The Agent and the Director have some sort of altercation in the decade between the first game and its sequel. The details of the event are [[Lost in Transmission]], but it's significant that the Director [[The Starscream|no longer has as much faith in his Agents.]]
* In ''[[
** Then in ''Mother 3'', when {{spoiler|Pokey, or rather Porky becomes the game's [[Big Bad]]}}, he has Yokuba, or Fassad going by the fan translation.
** The Masked Man likely fulfills this purpose to Porky, as well.
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* [[Villain Protagonist|Crypto]] plays this role for Orthopox in ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]''.
* In the ''[[Spyro the Dragon|The Legend of Spyro Trilogy]], there are several levels of [[The Dragon|Dragons]]. Cynder and Gaul are Malefor's [[The Dragon|Dragons]] (Cynder being a real dragon), despite being [[Big Bad]] in their first games, they're directly stated to be Malefor's minions. Gaul has the Assassin as his Dragon and it was possible by some of the pictures show that Cynder was actually Gaul's [[The Dragon|Dragon]].
* In the first [[
* Takios serves this role for {{spoiler|the Eternal, Temuorin}} in [[Eien no Aselia]]. He also has some sort of connection to Yuuto's sword which is never elaborated on. They're even voiced by the [[Norio Wakamoto|same person]] but it's unclear if this means anything.
* In the fantasy-themed combat-chess game ''Archon: The Light and the Dark'', the Dark forces have a literal Dragon, who is more powerful in every way than any of the other Dark pieces, including their leader, the Sorceress. The equivalent for the Light forces is the Valkyrie. The Shapeshifter for Dark and the Phoenix for Light could also qualify as their respective side's Dragons, but the Phoenix's lack of attack range and the fact that the Shapeshifter is only ever as strong as its opponent made them just a little too quirky to be real mobile slaughterhouses.
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* The Castellan is Dragon to the Warlord in ''Anvil of Dawn.'' Since you don't fight the Warlord, the Castellan is more or less the [[Final Boss]], despite being one dungeon early.
* In the Gears of War series both Raam and Skorge act as Dragons for Queen Myrrah.
* Mankar Camoran serves as Mehrunes Dagon's [[The Dragon|Dragon]] in [[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]. Dagon is the real threat to Tamriel, but Camoran serves as his enforcer/mouthpiece in the mortal plane, and must be defeated before there is any hope at all of stopping Dagon.
* In 9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors, Zero's Dragon is {{spoiler|Santa}}. {{spoiler|He}} does almost all of the dirty work, mainly because {{spoiler|Zero is in a loop that decides her existence, which is the reason for the game}}.
* In the ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' series, Shiva is [[Big Bad|Mr. X's]] Dragon, serving as his personal bodyguard and chief assassin.
* ''[[One Must Fall 2097]]'': Raven is the Dragon to the game's [[Big Bad]], Hans Kreissack. However, he's also a [[Dragon with an Agenda]], as his biography in the game's manual states that he wants the position of successor to the WAR company for his own purposes (instead of as a representative of Kreissack, as the other man intends) and is always looking for an opportunity to allow one of Kreissack's would-be killers to "slip through" the company's security system.
* ''[[Final Fight]]'': [[Dumb Muscle]] wrestler Abigail is touted as the Dragon to the [[Big Bad]] Belger, since he's the last boss you fight before facing Belger. It's also possible that Rolento (the boss before Abigail in the Industrial Stage, which was cut from the SNES port of the game) is in fact the Dragon, since he's the one in charge of Mad Gear's military power and connections.
* Kamek is Bowser's Dragon in ''[[Super Mario XP]]''. He shows up in the introduction cut-scene and kidnaps Princess Peach with his magic. He's also the boss of the second-to-last stage.
* In ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'', Harley Quinn is the Joker's ever-loyal right hand woman who helps extensively with his takedown in the Asylum, and looks after important hostages like Warden Sharp and Commissioner Gordon. She also plays this role in [[Batman: Arkham City]] alongside {{spoiler|Clayface, who is acting as a body double for the dying joker}}.
** Also in ''City'', Dr. Hugo Strange is technically this to his "Friends in High Places", a.k.a {{spoiler|Ra's Al-Ghul and the League of Shadows}}, but Strange has full control over his operations while {{spoiler|Ra's}} watches from the shadows.
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